Aldi/lidl food!

[Bewilderedallthetine]

I shop in Tesco's/Morrisons supermarkets. My workmates keep going on and said shop at lidl/aldi as it is so much cheaper. There is just me and my young son, so today I got our dinner from there (lidl). I bought Rump steak, oven chips and beans (we usually have a roast on Sunday and a fry up on monday) but fancyed a change. the rump was about 10 pounds, chips 2.00 and beans about 50p (ish) ..the steak was so so tough, chips all different sizes so some were more done than the others, beans with watery thin sauce. Can anyone really eat this stuff! I really need to cut down on our shopping costs but this was terrible! Have you any tips for shopping for nice food cheaperly?

Thank you to everyone who has replied xxx I have the crisps /snickers/mars bars lookalike, I have the cheese to try.Going to try the cereals and milk. My son also likes jam so going to try that. We also have some ham and peapudding (only about 39p) for our packed lunch tomorrow. Please can you lovely people keep posting on here all the (cheap) lovely food things they sell. This is so helpful to me..I am starting to think I haven't cooked the rump steak properly, as a few people on here like it xx

YANBU. I have an Aldi and a Sainsbury’s near me. The Aldi is the same price as Sainsbury’s for the cheaper items, and either lower quality or higher price for the rest. The only things I buy there are crackers, tortillas and instant rice. Everything else is either a higher price comparatively or much worse quality.

DH and I tried Aldi as I go there for adult son's snacks. The bacon was so thin it was see through. I had some thick ham which was delicious but the next day there was a green stripe through it 🤢. It looked disgusting.
Although I do like their coffee, mixed nuts and crisps.

We were going to try doing a full shop but not now.

With the price of things you sometimes work out better getting meat from butchers

We get all our meat from the butcher now as they do really good package deals and we'll freeze anything not being immediately used. Works out either same price or cheaper than supermarket and tastes better too

My son likes the flavoured water. I think if I can cut my food bill down a bit we will be ok. What are the yogurts like? Also cottage cheese/bread/sausages/eggs etc?

You need to cut down on meat op. We could rarely afford steak and toughness will depend on the cut you buy which will be the same everywhere. A chicken would be much cheaper for a roast and you could do egg fried rice the next day with the left overs which would stretch it further.

I do nearly all my shop in Aldi with what I can’t get in Sainsbury’s. I do jackets with cheese, coleslaw and salad once a week which cuts cost down and a nice tinned tomato pasta with bacon lardons in. With a roast chicken and leftovers that’s 4 main meals right there. Their veggie pies are good with mash and peas. Their pizzas are good for a Friday night and the skin on fries are lovely ditto, their wine, coffee, bread, tinned tomatoes, fresh tomatoes, broccoli, cheese etc.

I don’t buy Aldi potatoes or apples.

When you say you did it on a 'really low setting' what do you mean? If you're frying steak it should be cooked on a very high heat so that the outside browns but the inside remains pink. Cooking on a low heat should is more likely to make it tough.

I’ve found only some things are worth getting at Lidl. I don’t bother with meat any more and anything in a sauce is disappointing. But dairy products, bread products, pasta, biscuits, drinks etc are all fine.

I use Aldi and find most of their food good or at least on par. I would never buy rump steak as its tough anyway. Only thing if never buy from them is Fruit. I go to M&S for my fruit, more expensive but so much better and no waste as it lasts.. i don't buy fruit from Tesco or Sainsbury's either although they are marginally better than lidl/aldi

I tend to use tesco delivery as it’s convenient but I’ve used Aldi and Lidl and like both

I use Aldi weekly for my shop. Also shopped at Tesco, the chicken breast were the same from both stores. Bacon I buy the thick cut, sausages (hubby eats without complaints)

Pre cooked meals, fresh fruit can be hit & miss. bread is ok. Beans/soups are good.

Biscuits definitely cheaper than Sainsbury's

The Aldi meat is brilliant especially the steaks and sausages, much better than in Tesco.

I also like Aldi beans way more than other supermarket own brands ( I’m not a fan of Heinz)

the kids don’t love the fake crisps and Morrisons is our closest so that’s where I pop too but I do about 90% of my food shop at Aldi.

I quite like Aldi food, but I find out local Aldi quite stressful - it's always busy, the car park is too small, the checkouts stress me out. It's a much nicer experience to go to Tesco, and the price difference doesn't make it worth it for me. I go sometimes if I'm able to go at about 8am as that's a quiet time, but more often than not, I can't shop at that time.

I've stopped buying fruit from Lidl now, just so much stuff I've had to throw away. I bought a pack of two mangoes from Lidl to decorate a cheesecake at easter and both were rotten inside and unuseable. Bought strawberries recently and they were sour and just inedible. Would rather buy from Coop reduced section as most stuff in there is fine and tasty.

Baffled by this. I only ever buy Lidl deluxe steak and it’s absolutely always lovely. Far nicer than some steaks from independent butchers I’ve had.
I make sure it’s at room temp before cooking, always so tender.

I buy some non perishable things from Aldi and Lidl, as well as their ready cooked salmon but I think the quality of their meat, fruit, and vegetables is awful. I would much prefer to eat less meat and buy better quality, and order most of our meat from Eversfield.

I've got an Aldi and a Sainsbury right next to each other. I go to Aldi for staples like dried pasta, milk, spices, toilet paper, tinned veggies and beans etcetera. Then to Sainsbury for meat & fresh fruit and veg. Works well for us. Aldi quality for canned/frozen/pantry items is fine but I get my fresh stuff from Sainsburys as sometimes I find the Aldi fresh bits (especially fruit and veg) go off quite quickly. I'd go to Tesco rather than Sainsburys but then I'd have to drive to 2 different places and I don't want to 😉

This is brilliant xx thank you 😊 I am going to try all of this xxx

I will buy veggies like potatoes and onions at Aldi because they never (well, take a while) to go "off". Or if I know we'll be eating it ASAP then might get some strawberries or something.

Lidl has the best in store bakery though, love it

Really, the food is fine. With regards to steak, you need to cook it properly. If you're on the bones of your arse, you tend to very much appreciate their food.

I like crisps from Aldi and Lidl, especially the cheesy poofs. Lidl deli meat is very good, as is a lot of their country-themed stuff. Both shops do surprisingly good wine, gin and fizzy wine.

I've had really good steak from Aldi, but it was thick-cut ribeye, so quite a bit more expensive than rump. I have a hypersensitive smoke alarm, so I sear steak on the griddle pan at a really high heat first, and then chuck the whole thing in the oven for a bit to cook it to medium.

I grilled it ..so i have cooked it wrong! 😥I try my hardest to make really tasty meals but get it wrong sometimes 😪

I don't eat yogurts but my DS and DH like the Lidl version of Muller Corners, called 'Split Pots' - tbh I don't think theyve been disappointed by any of the other Lidl ones we've tried.

I'd also recommend (this is what I can think of for now):
Fruice juices (chilled or non-chilled)
Cheddar
Garlic bread slices (chilled)
Minced beef
Bakery Muffins
Pre-packed Muffins, cakes, biscuits
Crisps/Crisp type Snacks
Pasta sauces ('smooth tomato' is good if you/DC don't like 'bits')
Pasta
Cereals/Cereal Bars
Condiments
Eggs

Fruit and veg is hit or miss where we live.

Make sure you download the Lidl plus app, you get money off coupons and can collect points to get other coupons/freebies.

Particular types of steaks need to be cooked different ways iyswim. It's not one size fits all. So do your research there before you buy.

I buy all the basics from Aldi, and usually get meat from the butcher locally.